Putin says Russia, Kazakhstan to overcome fall of trade turnover

BOCHAROV RUCHEI, Sochi, Aug 16 (PRIME) -- Russia and Kazakhstan are able to overcome the contraction of trade turnover between the countries, and all mechanisms that are necessary for that have already been created, Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev on Tuesday.

“Of course, we encounter difficulties, especially in the economy, and it is understandable that today we have a contraction (of the trade turnover) in monetary terms on the background of instability of the world commodity markets and due to currency fluctuations,” he said.

“But in physical terms the fall is not so significant, it amounts to only 7%, and we are obviously able to overcome that, I mean the mechanisms for cooperation that are working now rather effectively.”

The prime ministers of the two countries have regular meetings, and an intergovernmental commission is actively operating. Russia’s investment in the Kazakh economy reached U.S. $9 billion and Kazakhstan’s investments into the Russian economy stand at almost $3 billion. “We are implementing an array of serious and large projects not just in the energy sector,” he said.

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